by Jeaane Beck
​
Reprinted with permission from Owl Light News | Copyright 2018

  ​   To some people, the words “collector” or “art collection” seem like they describe those with great wealth who pay thousands and thousands of dollars to purchase art. But that’s much like thinking everyone who enjoys a game of basketball at the YMCA is an NBA player.

   Anyone can develop an interest in and appreciation for original works and start to build a collection slowly, over time.

​ Lauren Behelfer is definitely one who fits that category. A third generation jeweler in the family-owned Crown Jewelers in Downtown Canandaigua, Lauren works daily with color and design. In addition, she has always appreciated the visual arts, from the art classes she took in high school to her ongoing interest in photography.

   About 15 years ago she visited the Waterfront Art Festival, where she purchased a lithograph print. Lauren says. “It was a framed, signed and numbered print of a tree and I love trees.”

   However, with a busy life and career, Lauren didn’t purchase any other art works for a long time. “I’m not a person who goes to galleries or art openings,” Lauren explains.

   Then three years ago Crown Jewelers displayed works by one of the participating artist competitors in Canandaigua’s Plein Arts Competition & Festival. When she went to that first Preview Party & Awards Ceremony, she fell in love with a painting by Elena Babak. The artist had painted a scene of cows in a pasture with the sun rising behind them.  “The light and the scene spoke to me.  Plus I loved how the parts looked a little blurry close up but when you backed away the images truly started to look realistic.”

   Lauren returned to the festival for the second time last year. She decided she would only purchase a painting if it truly felt special to her.  And sure enough, a painting by Beth Bathe of a “creepy old house” in Naples, reputed to be haunted, captured her imagination. She bought it immediately. “I only buy when something really moves me and I am certain I will want to look at it for a long period of time.”

   This year, Lauren returned a third time to the 7th Annual Plein Air Festival Preview Party & Awards ceremony. Waiting in the long buffet line, she had the opportunity to chat with two artists. She talked to them about how the competition went for them this year as well as about the scenes they chose to paint.

   One of the artists was Yung Hong Zong, a watercolorist from Portland, Oregon. This was his third year attending the Plein Arts Competition & Festival.  She loved his painting of Grimes Glen and found out during their conversation that he had wanted to paint the scene the prior year, but ran out of time. This year he made sure he went to the creek early enough in the week to complete the painting. Lauren bought it right away.

   Lauren enjoys talking with artists before she makes a purchase.  Three years in a row the artists have told her the paintings she has felt most drawn to are their favorites as well.  She acts quickly when she sees one that feels special to her. She saw people walking around the festival display making notes in their catalogues but she took the “he who hesitates, loses” approach and made her decisions quickly.

   She will go to next year’s Plein Air Festival again. “These artists have such amazing talent. I may not call myself a collector, but I do appreciate beauty.”

   Even though Lauren doesn’t spend all her time searching out art works to purchase, she is building a growing collection of original art works that are meaningful to her. It gives her great happiness to look at them.  “I can see and enjoy all three every night because they’re all in my living room.”

   Even if Lauren never decides to consider herself a collector, she is purchasing original works of art, supporting the work and creativity of others – and filling that need we all have inside for beauty.

​ Jeanne Beck is a mixed media artist and owner of Jeanne Beck Art Gallery & Studio, 154 Mill St., Canandaigua, NY. The gallery features periodic regional guest artists, classes and workshops as well as original works. Open Wed 12-4:30, Thurs-Sat., 10-4:30. 585-704-6419.

   Rochester Art Collectors and the Memorial Art Gallery collaborated for several months on a program that took place last night at the MAG: "Lure Of The Local."  ​ The panel discussed the local/regional art market; characteristics and trends found in our area; and the resources available to collectors interested in buying art made in and around Rochester. 

​   Panelists included: Roslyn Baskt Goldman, a longstanding art adviser and art appraiser; Jessica Marten, Curator in Charge/Curator of American Art at the Memorial Art Gallery; Alex Gruttadaro, owner of Makers Gallery and working artist; and Rome Celli, representing Rochester Art Collectors. This was the second presentation in The Collecting Series at the Memorial Art Gallery. 

​by Jeaane Beck
​
Reprinted with permission from Owl Light News | Copyright 2018

   ​​No matter how small or large your income is, you can become an art collector!

   Many art collectors say their first purchase happened almost without thought or planning.  They just saw a work they loved and bought it. Their pleasure in that piece led them to explore and add another piece…and then another one.

   Make it a goal to pick a work you love this month and find out all you can about the processes and medium the artist uses – and perhaps other artists working in a similar medium. If possible, purchase one piece by that artist, bring it home and place it somewhere you can see it and engage with it every day.

   Try getting to know more about an artist you really like. Visit their websites online to see their other works and artist statements.  You might even consider contacting them and setting up an appointment for a studio visit. You will enjoy it and learn so much; most regional artists are interesting and approachable people.

   ​This week I bought a new artwork called “Out with the Old,” by printmaker Pat Bacon. I was drawn to her images the minute I walked in the door of Main Street Arts in Clifton Springs on Saturday. The gallery director, Bradley Butler, was extremely helpful, explaining the photogravure process the artist uses to make her prints. The work I loved best was already sold, but Bradley showed me other pieces there just weren’t room for in the main gallery show.  I bought it and was able to bring it home the same day!

   Jeanne Beck is a mixed media artist and owner of Jeanne Beck Art Gallery & Studio, 154 Mill St., Canandaigua, NY. The gallery features periodic regional guest artists, classes and workshops as well as original works. Open Wed 12-4:30, Thurs-Sat., 10-4:30. 585-704-6419.

   When Mandi Antinucci became a member of Rochester Art Collectors on May 22nd she helped the group reach it's goal of 200 members more than one month ahead of it's June 30th goal. Not only that since she joined before June 30th Mandi will forever be known as a "Founding Member" of Rochester Art Collectors.

   Mandi is not only an avid art collector, she is an accomplished artist in her own right. Plus there's a history of art lovers in her family. Her grandfather, Robert Heaviside, collected extensively and served on the board of directors of the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York.

   Mandi's collection includes both contemporary works as well as works from the 19th and 20th century. Her collection hangs throughout her home in Geneseo. 

​   Mandi teaches art in the Batavia City School District while her husband, Rob Antonucci, teaches art in the Geneseo Central School District. Both are practicing artists as well as collectors and teachers.

   Rochester Art Collectors is pleased to team up with The Print Club of Rochester and the Bevier Gallery at RIT for a fun event around prints and printmaking all in the context of the Print Club's annual juried exhibition, The presentation is titled: "A Primer On Printmaking: Understanding & Collecting Fine Art Prints"

   This presentation is ideal for someone who wants to learn the basics of printmaking from a collector's point of view and wants to see a wide ranging exhibition of fine art prints as well.

​   Location: Bevier Gallery
   James E. Booth Hall 7A
   73 Lomb Memorial Drive
   Rochester, New York, 14623
   Visitor parking available in lots E and F (Map below.)

   6:00pm until 6:30pm - Fun Social Mixer! Hang out in the wonderful Bevier Gallery at RIT. Take in The Print Club of Rochester's annual juried exhibition of fine art prints made by artists from around the region and around the world: "Political Impressions."  Work in this show will be for sale. Details about the show are below.

   6:30pm until 7:30pm - Here's what you will learn from the presentation:

• A listing and description of the various types of printmaking processes
• A descrtption of how prints are made using the various techniques
• Tips and tricks when buying/collecting prints

   Presenters:  Elizabeth Durand and Barb McPhail

   This event is free and open to the public.  There will be a special reserved seating section for those members of Rochester Art Collectors and The Print Club of Rochester who register for this event in advance.

                          CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT AT THIS PRESENTATION

   Looking to printmaking’s long history as a vehicle for contentious dialog, Political Impressions will add another chapter in the tradition of artists such as William Hogarth, Thomas Nast, and Jean-Jacques Grandville who taught us ways to say what could not be said. This juried exhibition invites participants to examine current social and political issues through the use of symbolism and satire, wit and whimsy while avoiding anything too “on the nose.” Open to all printmaking methods and political persuasions this exhibition will be a diverse, playful, and thought-provoking experience of laughing through the tears in our turbulent world.

   Juror: Miranda K. Metcalf is the Director of Contemporary Prints and Drawings at Davidson Galleries in Seattle, WA. Davidson Galleries maintains the largest inventory of fine, original prints in the Northwest. In addition to holding of nearly 20,000 prints and works on paper ranging from the 15th to the 21st century, they hang new exhibits every month.

   Awards: Best in Show: $300, 2 Jurors Choice Awards: $100

===================================================================================

Thank yous...

​   Thanks to our presenters! Thanks as well to the Gallery Coordinator, Shane Durgee, and the staff at the Bevier Gallery. And, of course, thanks to the board of Directors of The Rochester Print Club and, in particular, Melissa Huang, who was the Rochester Print Club liaison with Rochester Art Collectors.

   On Friday, May 11th Rochester Contemporary Art Center and Rochester Art Collectors will co-present a community discussion that directly addresses the place of regional art, artists and audiences in the global marketplace of ideas.
​

​  The program will be held at RoCo during the Federico Solmi – The Good Samaritans exhibition that runs from April 6th through May 12th.

   The Good Samaritans is a solo exhibition comprised of several video installations by Italian artist Federico Solmi. His installations include different media such as video, drawings, mechanical sculptures and paintings. Solmi employs bright colors and a satirical aesthetic to portray a dystopian vision of our present-day society. The exhibition includes a new text about Solmi’s work by Larry Ossei-Mensah, an independent curator and cultural critic.

   Think globally. Create, experience and collect locally ​will be open to the public. The program will begin at 6:00 pm with a social/mixer and will run until about 7:30pm. 

Tickets for this program are $2/each but free for members of Rochester Contemporary Art Center and Rochester Art Collectors. Reservations are requested. Click here to get the details and your reserve your seat(s).

   Look for more collaboration between Rochester Art Collectors and Rochester Contemporary Art Center leading up to the massive 6x6 exhibition in June.

   Rochester Art Collectors announced today that the group will utilize social media outlets Instagram & Facebook to bring more attention to the art found in private collections in our community.

​   Collectors who use Instagram will be asked to periodically post an image of the art displayed in their home or office to those social media sites along with #ROCtheArt and @rochesterartcollectors. The images posted on Instagram and Facebook and marked with #ROCtheArt will be searchable on those sites.

   A curated selection of #ROCtheArt posts will be added to Rochester Art Collectors' website. If you type ROCtheArt.org into your browser you will go right to the page. You will also be able to find the #ROCtheArt page on RochesterArtCollectors.org's main menu.

   We want to be sure people who post images of their art collection also tag those images with the artists' names and @rochesterartcollectors so viewers will be able to see more of the artists' work and find the Rochester Art Collector's Instagram account.

Here's how it will work:
​
Post a photo of art from your collection created by someone other than yourself to Instagram.
Add #ROCtheArt in the comments
Tag @rochesterartcollectors so people can find us
And tag each artist so people can find the artists and buy their work!

   The organizers of Rochester Art Collectors are devoting the month of April to reaching out to various constituencies in the arts community around Rochester including both artists and gallerists.  When a new organization comes on the scene people are naturally curious and they usually have lots of questions. Rochester Art Collectors is providing opportunities to learn about the group and figure out how to fit in.

   Rochester Art Collectors organizers, Sarah Webb and Rome Celli have invited commercial gallery owners, managers and directors in the area to a meeting that will consider issues of special interest to gallerists. All the invited galleries have high quality exhibition spaces; a knowledgeable staff and well curated exhibition schedules putting them at the professional forefront of the Rochester Art Market.

   Celli and Webb will present information about Rochester Art Collectors to the assembled gallerists and answer questions about the group before opening up a conversation about the state of the art market in our area and ways to grow that market.

   Rochester Art Collectors believes thriving commercial art galleries are an essential ingredient in a successful art marketplace.  A vibrant array of commercial galleries encourages and nourishes a diverse community of collectors. A diverse community of collectors in turn encourages and nourishes the artists who live and work in our midst. In addition, strong commercial galleries provide artists with opportunities to ascend to the next level in their careers.

   Rochester Art Collectors' outreach efforts won't end in April. They will be ongoing over the course of the next year or more.

​​   Thanks to Rick & Robin Muto, owners of Axom Gallery at 176 Anderson Avenue in Rochester, for providing the group with a congenial space to meet and talk.

    Members of Rochester Art Collectors are invited to a special FREE preview for The Birth of the Universe exhibition at Flower City Arts Center this Thursday, April 5th.

   Members will  be treated to a special viewing of the exhibition BEFORE it opens to the public the next evening. Work in the exhibition will be available for sale during the preview.

                                       This is a Rochester Art Collectors "members-only" event.
                                                 Space is limited. Members may bring one guest.​
                                                                 Click here for your ticket(s).

​​   Ben Taylor's journey as a “thingmaker” (he doesn't like the word artist) began with Saturday classes at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire. In college he found his way to the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine, where he studied ceramics with Hall Riegger and sculpture with Gene Kloszewski. After graduating from Keene College he worked for a few months as an assistant to the school's Director, Fran Merritt.

   Ben studied conceptual art with Carl Florsheim at Temple University, where he received an MFA in sculpture. After graduation, he and his wife Evelyn joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in Afghanistan.

   Upon his return to the US he took a position as an instructor at Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, where he became interested in Zen meditation. He moved to Rochester in 1972 to join the Zen Center, and spent 25 years balancing career, family and volunteer work in refugee resettlement.

   In 1997 he began working on a series of black-and-white pen and ink drawings called The Birth of the Universe, some of which are being shown here. These large-scale original works (22.5"x30") will be available for sale.

​   This exhibition has been curated by Sally Wood Winslow.

   Rochester Art Collectors is collaborating with Susan Carmen-Duffy, owner of Create Art 4 Good at the Hungerford complex of buildings and artists, Richard Margolis and Colleen Buzzard, at Anderson Alley to inform local artists about Rochester Art Collectors, and and how it can be of service to them as makers.

   All presentations are open to the public and will cover the same material: an overview of Rochester Art Collectors’ mission, goals, future plans, and upcoming programs. We will review the www.rochesterartcollectors.org website, and be available to answer questions. Reservations are strongly encouraged.

   On March 22nd Rochester Art Collectors held it's very first Collectors' Round Table.  This informal gathering was a chance for members  to share ideas, pick up a few tips and meet other collectors. 

Video provided by Rochester Art Collector member, Melissa Huang.

   We met at Makers Gallery and Studio for two reasons: 

   First, it's a great space to pick up some art, but also because we asked the proprietor, Alex Gruttadaro to discuss his curatorial philosophy as a commercial gallery. With over thirty people in attendance, our round table format morphed into a larger circle!

   Here's how the evening went:

• ​6:30 ~ 7:00 pm people gathered and became acquainted.
• 7:00 pm Rochester Art Collectors co-organizer, Sarah Webb gave a brief overview.
• From 7:00 pm until 7:30 pm we went around the circle. Everyone introduced themselves, briefly discussed their background and interests. In addition, many of the participants presented small works of art to the group from their personal collection.
• At 7:30 pm, Alex Gruttadaro & his Makers Gallery partner, Zach Edwards, shared some background about Makers and their philosophy as gallerists.
• The event ended promptly at 8:00 pm, although most people lingered afterwards continuing conversations over coffee and cookies.

   This is a member-only activity. If you would like to be alerted to member-only activities, please click here and join us.

​   SAVE THE DATE: On Thursday, April 26th from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm WAYO 104.3 FM's Graphic Ear program will feature Rochester Art Collector co-organizer Rome Celli in the show's usual time slot.

​   Rome will share a little bit about his background and talk about his foray into fashion editorial photography and commercial fashion photography. He'll also introduce listeners to Rochester Art Collectors. As a special treat Rome will select some of his favorite tunes to play on the show. Questions from listeners for Rome may be sent by text during the show to 585-203-9296. So, tune in and send your questions!

Here are a few images from Rome Celli's photography portfolio:

​​   For approximately two and one-half years Graphic Ear, a one hour radio program on WAYO 104.3 FM hosted by local artist, Sabra Wood (a.k.a., Cat Clay) and supported at the control panel by Joey Palladino, has turned the microphone on Rochester's visual artists. The show airs every Thursday night at 6:00pm.

  Guest artists on the show are engaged by Wood in an extensive conversation about their background, their influences and, of course, their work.  Every so often they take a break from chatting to play one or two of the guest's favorite songs. The songs are often introduced with a brief description of why the music is important to the guest artist. Wood's questions are as insightful as the answers they provoke. She's always supportive of her subjects and yet she doesn't shy from tough questions. Listeners feel like they are being treated to a fly-on-the-wall experience listening to two friends talk about their favorite subjects. It's almost impossible to listen without feeling drawn in.

   Graphic Ear may well be the largest archive of recorded interviews with Rochester's visual artists in the known universe. More than 100 interviews with Rochester artists have been amassed and stored with the help of mixcloud.com. Collectors and other interested parties can listen to extensive conversations with artists at any time by visiting the Graphic Ear mixcloud .page and streaming to their heart's content..Users can save and "favorite" shows as they go along.

    The number of people helping to organize, manage and promote Rochester Art Collectors on a day-to-day basis has recently doubled to two. Sarah E. Webb joined Rome Celli as co-organizer effective March 5, 2018. She brings many rich and varied life experiences to her work with the organization.

   Sarah found out about Rochester Art Collectors from one of the organization's advisers, James Tabbi. She joined immediately after talking with Rome. Sarah has been supporting the group in the background ever since she joined.

   Sarah completed postgraduate work at Christie’s Education, London, before receiving her MFA from Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY. She has been a collector, an independent curator, educator, and artist for almost three decades. Sarah has been fortunate to travel extensively, most recently to Marfa, TX and experience the work of Donald Judd and his contemporaries on site. 

   The many stitches of Sarah’s life have taken her from the artist’s studio to the yoga studio where she continues to create and to practice. She weaves her critical, visual and perceptual background into a unique environment for students to map and make meaning of their individual body’s stories and experiences. Webb teaches, mentors and co-leads teacher trainings with Erica Ebert in Webster, NY.

   Sarah grew up in Fairport, NY. She graduated from Connecticut College, continued her study of Art History in London, before finally returning to Rochester to obtain her MFA from Visual Studies Workshop. She's been active in the arts for many years initially as an artist and curator, and then later on as a supporter, patron and, of course, collector.

​   Rochester Art Collectors relies on a  team of volunteers to operate. Over time Sarah & Rome expect to grow the team to four or five covering program, marketing, and all other administrative duties. There is no plan to hire staff.

   You might run across an art exhibition while having a cup of coffee or getting your hair styled. The work intrigues you. You snap a couple of photos and jot down the artist's name. Sure, you're going to plug the information into a search engine. Hopefully, you'll find the artist's web page, Facebook page and maybe even their Instagram. That's a good start but it's not enough. Has the artist's work been reviewed? Has the artist been interviewed? Where can you find that information? In this series we highlight one of the resources found on RocheserArtColletors.org RESOURCES page.

   Wouldn't it be great if a local TV station conducted in-depth interviews of local artists and then posted all of the episodes online so you could easily search by tags and keywords? What? That's crazy talk! Why not ask for the moon? Okay, how about if there was an interactive map that pinpointed where each episode was recorded? You're killing me! What are the chances of that ever happening? Well, such a program exists. It's called Arts InFocus. WXXI produces it and you can use their searchable archive and interactive map right now.

   Arts InFocus is one of a handful of instantly accessible online archives for collectors to research local artists and better understand their work. You'll get a feel for an artist's background, hear a description of the artist's work given by the artist, and very often see a glimpse of where and how the work is made. All this can be done at  your convenience online.

   WXXI has produced this unique series since 2015. So far there are nearly 100 segments available to stream online.  You can search using database tags including  words like abstract, ceramics, glass, mural, painting, photography, sculpture, woodworking and many more. The segment archive preserves interviews with more than sixty visual artists and dozens more performing artists and organizations. Every week more are added.

​   Each pin on this truly remarkable map locates a subject interviewed for the WXXI Arts InFocus program. Click on a pin to see information about one of the subjects and either a link to their Arts InFocus interview segment or their website. In the upper left hand corner on the menu bar there's a white box. Click on the box to see the complete listing of subjects.

   Even it you've already heard something about Arts InFocus you may not know the show is a collaboration with more than 30 PBS stations across the country. They share content with each other to spotlight the amazing arts and cultural activities in their communities. One "master" version of the show is produced from the content provided by the participating stations for distribution to all the members. However, each station can edit their version so local content is highlighted.

​
   There are a number of MAJOR markets participating in the consortium including Boston and New York City along with numerous markets across New York State. In effect, artists highlighted in this show are often launched onto a statewide, regional or even national platform under the auspices of participating stations..Talk about great exposure!!

   Some updates to the local show are currently being discussed. In the future you may see the show's opening and closing taped on location rather than in a studio. By doing so the producer hopes to be able to tell more great local stories in the same amount of time.

                   CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE ARTS INFOCUS ARCHIVE OF EPISODES

   After just a few short weeks of reaching out to the Rochester community Rochester Art Collectors recently achieved a membership milestone when Morgan signed up on March 13th and became of our 100th member.

   Morgan found out about Rochester Art Collectors when she was tagged in a Facebook post on our page by a friend who knew she'd be interested in the group.

​    We asked Morgan to describe herself and this is what she wrote...

   ​Hi! I’m Morgan.  

   This picture collage pretty much sums up what I do and what I enjoy.

   ​I moved to Rochester about 11 years ago after traveling around Upstate NY, California and Delaware.  I have a degree in Art Therapy and Baking and Pastry Arts.  I currently find myself teaching bread production. When I'm not at work you can find me hiking in our local parks, taking waaaayy too many pictures, writing, creating, and generally having a good time…otherwise, I’m volunteering and trying to hone my sarcasm and wit.

   I think art is a constant companion in my life.  I don’t have one particular medium or genre that speaks to me.  I feel that art is mood altering and depending on the mood the artwork can speak to you in a myriad of ways.  From traveling, I’ve been fortunate to find that no matter the city or town I find myself in, there is beauty in one way, shape or form.  That beauty is at time found on city walls or quiet galleries. I look forward to seeing and speaking about our local art scene of which I could stand to know more about.  

   When I walk these cities streets I’m always grateful to have landed here in the city of Rochester.  Rochester is abundant with 4 necessities I require: Good People, Good Food/Cocktails, The Arts, and Good Parks.

   I am the proud owner of an ink painting by Jason Dorofy (@dorofyink & designbydorofy.com)  as well multiple ceramic pieces by Earl Jacobson, and copper fired artwork by Painting with Fire. I also own some of Linda Connor Cass' (@loudeesjewelry & etsy.com/shop/Loudees) work, some beautiful glass flowers from More Fire Studio (@morefireglassstudio & morefireglass.com) and I own a number of prints purchased at the Cornhill Arts Festival from Eric Dorris Designs (@ericdorrisdesigns & ericdorrisdesigns.com).

   On April 1st Rochester Art Collectors will officially launch. No fooling! February and March will be a period of testing, organizational development, preparation and gathrering momentum for the launch. Rochester Art Collectors is a privately funded, independent, non-commercial group organized to ​promote collecting the art created by artists from the metro Rochester region.

   The idea for Rochester Art Collectors was first discussed openly in the fall of 2017 around a table in Java's Cafe in downtown Rochester. Rome Celli, invited Bleu Cease, Derek Darling, Alex Gruttadaro and Shirley Dawson to talk about the idea of forming a group to promote local art collecting in Rochester. For nearly 90 minutes the assembled art aficionados bounced ideas around. From that conversation the nascent organization began to take on a misty shape.

   Throughout the balance of the fall and into the new year Rome met with many dozens of collectors, gallerists, artists, arts administrators, art educators, reporters, business people, and other interested parties. He developed a simple webiste (RochesrterArtCollectors.org) so that he could easily share the concept and the underlying philosophy with others. As new ideas came in he updated and revised the site to reflect an evolvoing notion of what could/should be accomplished. Eventually, the purpose of Rochester Art Collectors was expressed and basic goals established.

   Rochester Art Collectors wil host a series of fun socials for members and non-members. Larger public presentations at local venues will feature notable speakers on topics related to collecting. News and information about the local arts scene as it relates to collectors and collecting will be offerred on the website along with information and links to local venues to buy art as well as sources for researching local artists.

   Membership is free. Join before June 30, 2018 to become a "Founding Member." Members will be invited to more intmate gatherings where they can share work from their collection, hear speakers on more technical topics and share tips, tricks and trends with other members. Member-only artist studio visits and private tours of local collections will be offered. Members will have a opportunity to offer their opinions about group rograms, policies and other topics.

   Collaboration with other organizations and local businesses will also be a hallmark of the group's programming. So far Rochester Art Collectors' programs are in the works with the Rochester Brainery, Rochester Contemporary, Axom Gallery, Makers Gallery and others. Rome is scheduled to be interviewed on WAYO on February 27th and then again in April on two different programs.

   Keep an eye out for Rochester Art Collectors on social media like facebook and instagram. Later this year the group will sponsor "Collector's Eye." A series of local collectors will bring their vision of the arts to the group's social media outlets.

   Over the course of the next few weeks the group will announce its short term goals & programs for rest of 2018. In the meantime, be on the lookout for pre-launch events such as the first in a series of public presentations for new collectors at the Rochester Brainery on March 2nd (ten free tickets are on offer) and the first pre-launch social mixer at Brown Hound is planned for March 8th. A member-only event is scheduled for March 22 at Makers Gallery & Studio.

   There are some pretty easy ways to stay in touch with what's going on in the local arts scene. Our RESOURCES section gives you more than two dozen handy links that will not only keep you up-to-date but may help you fill in some of the gaps. A number of the sites connected by these links offer a treasure-trove of information in their archives. Every so often we'll highlight one of the resources so you can get to know what's on offer.

   Alan Singer came to Rochester decades ago to teach at Rochester Institute of Technology from the New York City area.  As a professor in the College of Imaging Arts and Science at RIT he offers students training and guidance on the business side of being an artist. He covers a wide range of essential skills from helping his students to verbally express the meaning contained in their work to building their curricula vitae and so much more. 

   Alan is a practicing professional artist as well as a teacher. His visual ideas are mostly expressed in printmaking, painting and digital art.  Alan’s art has been featured in museums such as the Everson in Syracuse, and the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. His work has also been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, primarily in the New York area. He and his wife, Anna Sears, make their home in Brighton.

   In 2010 after watching a long and steady decline in the coverage of the local arts scene Alan decided to offer a fresh perspective by writing his own blog. And so, The Visual Artworker: A Dialog About Contemporary Art In Western New York, was born.

   When you visit Alan's blog you'll find nearly 250 posts(!) dating back to 2010. A good chunk of the content covers local artists and the local arts scene. It has become a priceless archive for collectors and anyone else interested in learning about Rochester's vibrant arts community. As a bonus you'll be able to read his take on all manner of national and international artists, art exhibitions as well as many books on topics related to the arts. The range of information he covers is truly remarkable.

   To be clear, Alan is not only the author of a terrific arts blog he is also an accomplished graphic designer and a  published author. He and his brother, Paul, published a book about their father's work in 2017 titled, Arthur Singer: The Wildlife Art Of An American Master. It wasn't his first book and I doubt it will be his last. Busy guy, right? It boggles the mind!

   Rochester is exceptionally lucky to have an accomplished guy like Alan in our midst covering local artists. Do yourself a huge favor and dig into The Visual Artworker: A Dialog About Contemporary Art In Western New York. You'll learn a ton of great information!

​   I came across this catalog while visiting with my friend, Warren Phillips, recently. Warren is a deeply knowledgeable person on topics related to local art. He's a talker and when he talks I listen and I learn. When he handed the catalog to me he told me he had seen the exhibition and considered it the single most important factor in becoming a collector. Naturally, I was piqued. "1980. I don't recall this show. Where the hell was I?" I asked myself out loud. I was in college at the time and missed the show.  To be honest, I'm not sure the 19 year old me would have appreciated the show or even visited. It wasn't until after college that I developed a greater appreciation for the arts. As soon as I picked up the dogeared third or fourth generation photocopy of the catalog I knew I had to take it home for a close reading. Once I had read it I knew I had to share it with you.

   It was the greatest survey of influential Rochester artists ever presented to the public or so they intended. None have dared attempt a similar effort since. The exhibit would probably never have been imagined were it not for a local collector, Bruce W. Chambers. Approximately one quarter of the works on exhibit came from private collections. The remarkable size & scope of the exhibition would not have been possible without including work on loan from private individuals thereby demonstrating the essential role local art collectors play in preserving Rochester's story.

   Sometime in 1976 Chambers and a small band of collectors (referred to as "lenders" in the catalog) began plotting and planning with staff at the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) to mount a massive retrospective featuring a survey of "important" Rochester artists from the period 1880 through 1950. It took them nearly four years to pull it all together. The exhibition opened on August 1, 1980 and ran for approximately seven weeks until September 21st.

​   Brett Waller was Director of the MAG at the time of the exhibition. He described himself as "a newcomer" in his Foreword to the catalog and conceded "...no survey can hope to be complete or definitive..." He goes on later in the paragraph, "...Rochester long has been a city where art and artists have flourished." Flourished indeed.

​   Volunteers Gertrude Herdle Moore and Isabel C. Herdle had the monumental task of organizing the exhibition and co-writing the catalog's Introduction (which was a treat to read for this local art collector). They were identified as "Director Emeritus" and "Curator Emeritus" respectively having left the gallery before the exhibition was organized. There are sections, like the one in Waller's Foreword describing the Herdle family's many decades of contributions to the MAG, that remind one of passages from a Henry James' novel. This was clearly a effort that drew deeply from Rochester's arts and cultural society from that period.

​   Of the thirty-eight artists and more than 124 works that were exhibited in the show approximately twenty-five pieces were created by fewer than ten women.

The exhibition included (in alphabetical order)::

1. Ralph Avery (1906-1976)
2. Claude Bragdon (1866-1946)
3. Charles Llivingston Bull (1874-1932)
4. Alling Clements (1891-1957)
5. Colin Campbell Cooper (1856-1937)
6. Emma Lampert Cooper (1860-1920)
7. Kathleen McEnery Cunningham (1885-1971)
8. Rev. James Hogarth Dennis (1839-1914)
9. Rufus Dryer (1880-1937)
10. William Ehrich (1897-1960)
11. Harvey Ellis (1852-1904)
12. Douglas Gorsline (1913-????)*
13. Charles P. Gruppe (1860-1950)
14. E. Landseer Harris (????-1901)
15. George M> Haushalter (1862-1943)
16. James D. Havens (1900-1960)
17. George Herdle (1868-1922)
18. Milton W. Holm (1903-????)*
19. Whitney F. Hoyt (1910-1980)
20. John J. Ingilis (1867-1946)
21. Seth C. Jones (1853-1929)
22. Ada Howe Kent (1858-1942)
23. Winifred Lansing (1911-????)*
24. Robert Lee MacCameron (1866-1912)
25. Roy Mason (1886-1972)
26. John Menihan (1908-????)*
27. J. Guernsey Mitchell (1854-1921)
28. Cathal O'Toole (1904-????)*
29. Carol W. Peters (15897-1980)
30. Ella E. See (????-1926)
31. Edward Siebert (1856-1944)
32. James Somerville (1849-1905)
33. M. Louise Stowell (1861-1930)
34. Fritz Trautman (1882-1971)
35. Clifford Ulp (1885-1958)
36. Horatio Walker (1858-1938)
37. John C. Wenrich (1894-1970)
38. Blanca Will (1881-1977)
39. Zoute (a.k.a, Leon Salter) (1903-1976)

   Below each artist's name in the catalog is a descriptive paragraph that comprises a sort of distilled curriculum vitae for each artist justifying their inclusion. As you would expect, each entry is also accompanied by a listing of works by that artist and the source of the work. Most of the work is credited to the MAG's own collection with a fair number of pieces on loan from what was then known as the "Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum." The Rochester Historical Society also contributed a number of pieces.

   If I have any luck, Part II of this series will include  information about the local collectors who helped organize the show as well as those who contributed work to the exhibition. I'm also hoping for some first hand accounts. I believe there are a number of people I can contact who were either close at hand to the exhibition (maybe they worked on it?) or who visited the exhibition.  I know of one source who credits this exhibition with becoming an avid collector: my friend, Warren.

   I hope you have as much fun pouring over the catalog it as I did!

*This artist was alive at the time of the show. I assume all have died over the intervening 38 years. I hope to identify the date of their passing in a future post.

   I spent nearly an hour on the phone with Katie Verrant last night and enjoyed every second of our conversation. I had so much fun talking to her I stopped taking notes after awhile. She's pretty much the ideal Rochester Art Collector member.

  Katie Verrant was born on the west coast in California. She moved to Pennsylvania and went to a "tiny" high school near where her family settled outside of Philly.

   Katie learned to appreciate art and the outdoors at an early age. She laughed when she told me her mom "can't pass a museum or gallery without pulling over and going inside to learn something." Although her parents weren't what you'd call collectors per se they did own some original art so Katie had role models for seeing and appreciating art as well as owning art. In addition to art she told me, "I have always loved wildlife and the outdoors,"  You'll learn how she combines her interests in art, wildlife and the outdoors a little later in this post.

      In terms of collecting local art destiny was to play an important role in Katie's life. When it came time for college she sort of stumbled on Rochester Institute of Technology. It had the program offerings she wanted. It was also far enough from home to feel independent and close enough to go back-and-forth without too much trouble. She found her "nerdy" peeps immediately when she moved onto the RIT campus and fell in love with Rochester and the region after extensive touring.

   She met and worked with Erich Lehman while she was at RIT. Erich works full time as Premedia Facilities Coordinator for RIT’s School of Print Media. In addition, he was/is the co-curator and lead organizer of Rochester's internationally renowned mural art program, WALL\THERAPY and he was the founder of a popular commercial art gallery, 1975 Gallery.  Eventually, Erich asked Katie to design the highly coveted 2013 WALL\THERAPY book commemorating the work and the people who made the program happen that year.

   Erich became the connecting tie between Katie and the local arts scene. Her deep interest in the arts combined with Erich's connections opened doors for her all over town. He eventually became very important in Katie's personal life. He opened her up to the possibilities of serious collecting by sharing his extensive collection(s) of local, national and international artwork. She quickly caught the bug.

Would you like to see more artwork from Katie's collection?  CLICK HERE

    I asked Katie about her first important art purchase.  In March of 2013 1975 Gallery hosted "All Things Wild and Free - New Works by Mr. Prvrt"; a beloved local muralist who's real name is Justin Suarez. Justin and Erich invited Wild Wings, Inc., a local organization that that houses and cares for permanently injured birds of prey, to participate at the opening party and receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Justin's work.

   Well, Katie fell in love with Justin's work that night as well as the remarkable birds.  She ended up spending a good deal time at the opening talking to a person she took for a Wild Wings staff member who was holding a gorgeous injured owl. it was only later after telling Erich she regretted not getting the chance to actually meet Justin that she learned who the "staff member" was: the artist, Justin Suarez.

   The next day she called Erich at 1975 Gallery and asked about her favorite painting from the show. It was still available but the price was a serous stretch since she was a student. After mastering her fears she reached deep into her savings to come up with the cash and hasn't looked back. Since then she has purchased nearly 60 pieces of original art .

   When Katie moved to Bethesda, Maryland several years ago she had the chance to look back on the work she had collected while she was in Rochester and discovered she had a number of images of women made by female artists. Those works are now displayed as a grouping in her home. There are many other strands to her collection: Rochester artists, muralists, street art and so on. She has added to her collection in recent years. The work made by Rochester based artists remains central to her collection. When you look at the images in her collection you can see a sort of exchange between the works. It looks like improvisational music to me with colors and forms playing off each other. 

   Katie deeply appreciates the opportunity to meet the artist before she buys a piece of art. She wants to get to know the person and understand their point of view. She also likes to do some research and think about the work before she makes a decision to buy. She seems to have what I would call a "lifetime relationship" with the work in her collection since she doubts she would ever sell anything from her collection.

   She loves her new home in Maryland but she says the area doesn't have nearly as rich or friendly an art scene as Rochester. In Rochester, she said, every door was open to her. There is a wonderful community of artists in Rochester. They hang out together, play together, they share their lives with each other. She loved being able to meet and get to know all her favorite artists. Even after several years in Bethesda, she said, it's nearly impossible to find the sorts of places she loved so dearly in Rochester. 
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   Oh, by the way, if you look closely in the photos here and on her site you'll see some artwork piled up against the wall. Classic collector behavior! I do the same thing. Doesn't everyone? She has dozens of pieces yet to be framed. Uh, yep. Me, too. There's always more work to frame and more work to hang...

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   Rochester Art Collectors will collaborate with Rochester Brainery on an series of five public presentations aimed at encouraging new collectors of local art. The series will be titled: "Living With Art". Each talk will focus on a different aspect of buying art created by local artists.

   The presentations will be scheduled on a bi-monthly basis on Fridays beginning on March 2nd from 6:00 pm until 7:00 pm and coordinated with the Rochester Brainery's First Fridays activities.  Future dates will be May 4th, July 6th, September 7th and November 2nd.  Rome Celli from Rochester Art Collectors invite a special guest collector/artist to co-present each topic. The $5.00/pp suggested donation for this presentation will be used to support art exhibitions at the Rochester Brainery.
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   Here's what we know so far about the presentation on March 2nd:

   A friend of Rochester Art Collectors  has agreed to underwrite up to 10 tickets to the first presentation. The first ten people who sign up using the link below or who sign up for the event on eventbrite.com will get in free!

                CLICK HERE TO CLAIM A FREE TICKET TO THE PRESENTATION ON MARCH 2, 2018

   Rome Celli grew up in Rochester. He also attended school in Rochester eventually graduating from St. John Fisher College with a BA in political science in 1982. He's married to a former arts reporter for the Democrat & Chronicle, Elizabeth Forbes. They have two sons in college. Rome is a residential real estate broker by profession.
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   Rome has been collecting local art for over 30 years. He has served on numerous non-profit arts boards including the Pyramid Arts Center and it's successor organization, Rochester Contemporary. He also operated a small commercial art gallery in downtown Rochester for several years in the late 1980s, early 1990s hosting both in gallery shows as well as what we would now call "pop-up" shows all over town during that time. Rome is one of the organizers of Rochester Art Collectors.

​   Rome it not a fan of art openings since it's so hard to focus on the work at a party. He'd much rather see the work on a quiet day away from the crowds. A studio visit with the artist is by far preferred. One way or the other he very much likes to meet with the artist and talk about the work before he makes a decision to buy. He not only wants to understand the artist's thinking, techniques and approach he also enjoys just getting to know the artist as a person. Ideally, he prefers to meet at the artist's studio but it's not uncommon to meet at a coffee shop, a gallery or somewhere else. Rome met Jappie King Black at an exhibition space and Jane Lichorowic at a coffee shop. Unless the work is already familiar to Rome he rarely buys a piece upon a first exposure. He likes to think about the work and come back to look again and talk about the work with the artist, if possible, before buying.

  We asked Rome about a couple of recent acquisitions...

   Jane Lichorowic is an emerging artist who graduated with a degree in illustration from RIT and now works as an illustrator at the University of Rochester's Laser Lab. She currently lives in the Southwedge.

   Her recent work, like the piece above on the right, features an organ of the human anatomy integrated with botanical elements such as flowers or ferns. She says she rarely begins with a specific image in mind. She may open up an anatomy book, see something that inspires her and begin. The rest comes to her as she moves along.  Acrylic and paper are her preferred media. The line work on her paintings is carefully done with ultra fine brushes. Colors, contours and shading are done with a variety of slightly larger brushes. You'll note the work has a strong graphic presence.

   Jappie King Black is a retired educator currently living in Brockport, NY; the site of a vibrant creative community centered around SUNY Brockport. Jappie was born in Detroit and studied textile design at Rhode Island School of Design receiving her MFA from Syracuse University in fiber with an emphasis in sculpture. She also studied at the Ateneo Fuente, Universidad de Coahuila; Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. Her work has been shown at many galleries across the United States.

   As you you might expect from her degrees and as you can see from the photo on the right she works in three dimensions and is most well know for using grapevine, bark, wood, wire, fibers, wax and occasionally quills to construct her sculptures. Much of the gravevine work is figurative and ranges widely in size from larger than a human figure to a size that would fit comfortably in your hand. She's done indoor and outdoor site-specific installations involving dozens of individual pieces as well as singular pieces. In addition to producing sculptures made of natural materials she also makes bronze castings.

   Jappie and Rome met on a chilly afternoon this past Fall at relatively new, non-traditional, appointment-only exhibition space: Lout Cow in Spencerport, NY. Loud Cow is located on the grounds and in the barn of a property owned by artists, Aaron Delehanty & Jane Esther Mahoney.

   Jappie's work was installed alongside work by Allen Topolski. Both artists were showing a fairly large amount of work at that venue. Rome & Jappie spent about an hour walking around the show chatting about the work and catching up. In the week or two that followed they exchanged many messages, photos, and ideas. They met again at Loud Cow to talk in more detail before Rome settled on "Winged Dragon Lady" (above right).

   Although Jappie has been making similar imagery for some time Rome chose the work because it felt to him like it spoke to the popular culture and politics of the moment around female empowerment. Rome saw a connection with pop culture icons such as the "Mother of Dragons" character Daenerys Targaryen from the most popular TV show in history, Game of Thrones.

   As a matter of personal policy Rome says he does not negotiate over price with artists. He believes artists have the right to price their work by whatever method makes sense to them. So, as much as he might like to purchase a work he may not be able to do so. "Everybody has a budget," says Rome. In his mind he can either afford the work or he can't. If the artist is able to sell their work for the price requested, so much the better for the artist! Rome's loss is someone else's gain according to him.

   Although the pieces shown in this post are figurative Rome collects a wide range of styles. He's particularly found of portraits of one kind or another. Unconventional portraits are of particular interest.  Most of the work in Rome's collection is two dimensional although he does have a number of three dimensional pieces as well. In the end a piece has to have an "edge" - to challenge Rome - in order for him to be drawn to it.

   Not all the art in Rome's collection was made by local artists. Rome is an enthusiastic member of the Print Club of Rochester. Each member of the Print Club receives a print chosen by the Club's board every year. Usually the Club will pick an artists outside or the Rochester area. When they pick a local artist that's a bonus from Rome's point of view. Regardless, Rome enjoys interacting with Print Club members many of whom are local artists.

   "Collecting artwork by local artists is a joy to me," says Rome. "Every acquisition either begins a new relationship or refreshes an established relationship."
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   ​There's a big difference between buying art and collecting art. Buying art is more of a random activity based on likes, preferences or attractions at any given moment, while collecting art is more of a purposeful directed longterm commitment. In both cases, you buy what you like, but if your goal is to collect art and do it right, you have to master two additional skills. The first is being able to effectively research, evaluate and decide whether or not to buy whatever works of art attract you. The second is being able to choose each individual work in such a way as to form a meaningful grouping aka a collection.

   If you're like most people, you know how to buy art on a piece-by-piece basis, but may not be all that accomplished at formulating a plan for making multiple acquisitions over time, or in other words, building a collection. You can find art you like just about anywhere you look and in a seemingly endless array of subject matters, mediums and price ranges, but sifting through it all in a systematic manner can be overwhelming and even intimidating. So how do decide where to focus and what direction to go in? How do you relate one purchase to the next? How do you organize or group your art together in ways that make sense? How do you present it? And most importantly, how do you do all these things well? This is what collecting is all about; it's the ultimate case of controlled purposeful buying.

   What makes a great collector great is his or her ability to separate out specific works of art from the scrillions of pieces already in existence and assemble them in such a way as to increase or advance our understanding of that art in particular or of the history and evolution of art in general. In any mature collection, the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts, the collector comes to be accepted as a respected authority and in exceptional cases, goes on to set the standards, determine tastes, trends and influence the future of collecting for all.

   Regarding the art that does make it into your collection, most novice collectors will tell you they buy what they like. That's definitely the best way to buy, but as you gain experience, the reasons why you buy what you like should become increasingly more conscious, detailed, sophisticated and purposeful. For example, you might hear an advanced collector say something like, "Not only do I love this sculpture, but it's also a prime example of the artist's best subject matter from his most productive time period and it fills a major gap in my collection."

   What an experienced collector essentially does is pose a problem and then illustrate the solution to that problem by piecing together a collection. That way, everything fits and it all makes sense according to the master plan. Take this problem for instance:
   What is the history of abstract painting in Southern California? The solution is an art collection consisting of abstract paintings by Southern California artists that date from the early days right on up to the present (or from whatever time period the collector is focusing on).

Ask questions like:

* Why do I like the kinds of art I'm buying?
* What about it satisfies me?
* Do I like it for the subject matters, what it represents, what it communicates, its originality, the techniques, the colors, the historical aspects, the regions where it's made, the lives of the artists?
* Does it make me think about things I've never thought about before?
* Does it make me feel a certain way or see things in a different way?
* Do I admire its technical qualities the most?
* Do I like it for the concepts, ideas, themes or philosophies it embodies, communicates or stands for?
* Does it alter or inform my perspective on some aspect of life?
* Does it portray or present things in ways they've never been presented before?
* Is it that it's old, new, local, foreign, big, small, round, square, whatever?

​   Once you begin to identify the common threads, you can refine your buying to zero in on additional pieces that share those characteristics. It's almost like putting together a mission statement or clearly and specifically defining your goals...

  The good news is you can begin documenting at any time and even from a standing stop. Write down everything you can about the art you own, either from memory or by contacting the original sellers. Include information like the following:

* Any stories the sellers tell you specifically relating to the art.
* Details about the purchases including any memorable moments about making them.
* What the art means or what its significance is, either according to the artist or to whomever sold it to you.
* Biographical and career information about the artists.
* How or why or any other information about how the art was made.
* When the art dates from.
* Whether any pieces have ever been exhibited in public, at galleries, written about or featured or discussed in any other way.

   Another distinguishing feature of a superior collection is that it's organized. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end-- just like any good museum exhibition. This goes back to posing the problem and then using the collection to map out the solution. Take the previous example of the "history of abstract painting in Southern California." This collection can be organized in many ways including by date, by artist, by style, or by location. Or you can get even more specific. Within a topic as narrow as this, there are all kinds of subtopics:

* Abstract painting in Los Angeles organized by date.
* Abstract painting in Southern California between 1950 and 1970.
* Geometric abstract painting in Southern California.
* Abstract painting in Southern California by immigrant artists.
* Abstract paintings in Southern California that are no larger than 12 by 16 inches.

  This increases not only their enjoyment, but it also reinforces your chosen direction and your future buying. Additional benefits to organizing your collection are that you can see where you've been, where you're going, where you have duplication, where you're weak, what you're missing, what no longer makes the grade, and what you have to do to resolve any problems. It's not much different from your kids putting together all the baseball cards of their favorite teams to complete their collections.

   The worst possible outcome for a collection occurs when the owner passes away leaving no information about the art, how much it's worth, how to care for it, or how to sell or donate it. Countless works of art have been resold for pennies on the dollar, given away, or even thrown in the trash because the owners kept little or no records and left no instructions on what to do with it.
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